An Ethnopharmacological Study from the Coimbatore District, Tamil Nadu, India: Traditional Knowledge Compared With Modern Biological Science

Abstract

In this paper, a synthesis of ethnomedical uses and modern biological knowledge has been done on 40 medicinal plants used by women in hamlets in and around Anaikatty hills of Coimbatore District, Tamil Nadu. Women in these areas possess a rich knowledge of medicinal plants and still continue the medical tradition of using plants as medicine for themselves, their families and others around them. A description of the chemical contents and biological activities of different parts of the plants recorded is given wherever possible in order to substantiate or verify the traditional uses